Electronic Arts SimCity

We built this city on rock and roll....

Strengths: Engrossing, plenty of options

Weaknesses: Fiddly controls

Summary: I haven't played a Sim City game in years and back then my general interest was to make a city and then run a half dozen Godzilla's through it and watch the carnage. I picked up Sim City for the DS on a lark and the game was much as I remembered. The basic concept is still the same, to build a city and manage all the competing factors to turn a profit. Until you really get a feel for the mechanics, it can be hard to create a city that doesn't become a huge money pit. Luckily, there are varying difficulties in the game with differing amounts of starting cash so you can begin the game with a handicap if you need it.

The real downside for me is the demolition feature. You often need to knock buildings and roads and all sorts of other things down but the control is fiddly. One accidently flick of the thumbs and you can completely screw yourself by killing something you needed. Of course, not only did you just lose something you wanted but chances are you'll have to pay money to rebuild it and then wait for it to develop again. Everything just feels a little too close in with the DS and mistakes with demolition and building were common occurances for me.

If you don't want to build a city from scatch, there are also senarios you can play. They provide a pre-built city with a problem, say pollution, and your job is to try to fix it within the budget and configuration of the current city.

All in all, Sim city for the DS is a fun game for anyone who likes to build and micromanage. I got tired of it after a while, harkening back to the days of running monsters through downtown, but that might just be because I don't have as much patience.

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Another fun Sims game!

Strengths: Nice graphics. Fun building a city.

Weaknesses: None.

Summary: This game of building a city is fun and has nice graphics. An addictive game and makes you want to keep playing. Bought the game when it first came out.

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SimCity DS

Strengths: New data screens make managing a city easier than before.

Weaknesses: Needs more than one save slot.

Summary: The game's only online feature is the ability to wirelessly send mail to other, nearby players. If you and a friend use this feature, you'll unlock special buildings you can place in your towns. The point is to have fun building, as well as probably destroy an awesome city with tools and data that actually pertain to real life. I highly recommend SimCity for the Nintendo DS.

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It's SimCity for the DS-- what a perfect match

Strengths: Great game squeezed into the DS, has most of the best parts of the PC games

Weaknesses: Sometimes things are a bit too tiny, they've changed some core gameplay a bit

Summary: I was excited to hear about SimCity DS finally coming out since it seems like this game would be perfect for the DS. And it mostly is, bringing the sort of complicated city management game to the DS. In it you build a city and run the day to day activities, while dealing with emergencies when they spring up (like blowing into the mic to put out fires).

Overall the game works very well on the DS and is a great game to have with you to pop in occasionally. The only real problem is that some things got shrank a bit too much in the conversion to the DS. SimCity has always had a "finesse" element to it and this one is no exception-- be really careful what you're dragging the stylus over!

EA has added and tweaked a few features here and there (the advisors work slightly differently than I remember, the mini-games are mostly new) but in general it's the Simcity you know and love from the PC. 4 stars-- recommended for everyone to at least check out.

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SimCity 3000 Mobile

Strengths: Based on SimCity 3000 on the PC/Mac

Weaknesses: Not zoomed-in enough for stylus actions

Summary: SimCity on the DS sounds like a match-made in heaven. The touch screen of the DS makes the SimCity interface almost perfectly translate from the computer to the handheld.

Like any other SimCity game, you are God and mayor. You build a city. You have a friendly advisor that gives you tips as you build your dream city. There is a slightly gimmicky mail system that allows you to send mail to your friends with SimCity DS which gives you landmarks.

This version of SimCity is based on the 3000 version, so the graphics will look familiar to veterans of that game. The graphics could've used some updating because some graphics appeared murky. The other problem with the DS version is the limited zooming. Many times, my stylus slipped while I had the bulldozer destroying parts of my city. This version definitely could've used an undo button or a larger zoom.

The mini games like blowing out fires were fun, but slightly gimmicky. But, this is SimCity 3000 basically, so if you enjoyed that game on the computer, you will enjoy it on the DS.

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